


Cloudbusting

by Corvidden



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23544748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corvidden/pseuds/Corvidden
Summary: Vanessa takes Charity for a picnic.
Relationships: Charity Dingle/Vanessa Woodfield
Comments: 1
Kudos: 71





	Cloudbusting

**Author's Note:**

> This is a totally pointless fluff-fest. I can't cope with anything serious right now, so here's something to rot your teeth. Enjoy :)

It's one of those near perfect English summer days. The sky is almost clear, save for a few fluffy clouds, and the air feels clean. It's warm, too. Warm enough to forgo a jacket, and enjoy the feeling of the sun on your face. 

Warm enough, also, to agree to coming for a picnic with Vanessa. It's not really like Charity could have said no, when her fiancee had practically been bouncing on the spot with excitement.   
“Come on, please? The boys are at nursery, you have the day off, and I can take the day- I checked my calendar. Paperwork and CPD- nothing I can't put off to another day.”

She makes a show of rolling her eyes, and huffing out her agreement, but secretly she loves that more than a year and half into their relationship Vanessa is still excited to spend her free time with her. A peaceful warmth spreads through her body whenever she thinks about how much Vanessa loves her. 

“Alright then. What do we need?” She sighs, but throws a wink to Vanessa to let her know that she's not totally being totally railroaded into agreeing. 

“Nothing. It's all sorted. I took a bit of a gamble that you'd be unable to resist me,” Vanessa grins, nodding towards a backpack sitting by the table. 

“Feeling very convinced of your charms, Ness,” Charity drawls, pulling her closer by her red cardigan. “I'd be disappointed if you thought I was getting predictable.” She brushes their lips together. 

“Oh as if, Charity,” Vanessa says, reaching up to place her hands in blonde curls, drawing Charity's face down for a kiss. She runs her hands down Charity's neck and over her collarbones. “You're a lot of things, but predictable is not one of them.” 

Charity smiles into their next kiss. 

**

The landscape flashes past the car window and somehow Charity can't take her eyes off it, as though she's never seen it before. She's holding Vanessa's hand, enjoying the silence and the warmth of the day through the sunroof. She doesn't know where exactly they're headed but she trusts that Vanessa has it all planned out. She's marvelling, still, at how right it all feels. How she doesn't feel like she has to fill the silence, and how she doesn't need to be suspicious of the motives for bringing her out here. She can just be, and she is still settling into this, this feeling of freedom and of comfort. 

“Earth to Charity?” Vanessa says, with a laugh. “We're here.”

She's parked the car at a popular walking spot. It's high up on a ridge, and the view is amazing. Charity isn't usually moved by nature and by landscapes, but for some reason, looking out over the dales fills her with a sense of hope and of contentment. She turns to see Vanessa pulling the backpack out of the boot of her car, hitching it up on her shoulders, and she can't help but smile. This is so Ness, everything meticuously planned, effortlessly perfect. Vanessa looks up and catches her eye. 

“What? Are you laughing at me?” She says, closing the boot and crossing her arms.

“Wouldn't dream of it babe.” Charity links arms with Vanessa. “Come on then, where are you taking me. I hope it's somewhere secluded...” she bumps Vanessa's hip with hers. 

Vanessa grins. “A little. But it's the middle of the day on a Wednesday. It's going to be quiet wherever we are.” She nudges Charity with her shoulder. “Come on, you- get your mind out of the gutter and lets go.”

Vanessa slips her arm out of Charity's but she trails her hand gently down her arm, capturing her hand. She heads towards the trail with Charity walking behind her, hands still joined. Vanessa looks over her shoulder and smiles. Charity could swear she feels the sun get a little warmer as Vanessa looks at her, her eyes shining bright blue like the sky. Instead of cynically laughing at her own sentimentality, Charity squeezes Vanessa's hand and smiles back, thinking how lucky she is that someone so good, so kind, so beautiful has chosen her, and how it makes her suddenly feel like she's worth that love and deserves to have that goodness in her life. 

**

They carry on hand in hand for a while, until they reach a little cluster of trees. The grass is a deep green, with a scattering of buttercups and daisies, and the hillside falls away in front of them, revealing a stunning view of early summer in the dales. 

Vanessa shucks the backpack off and unpacks a blanket for them to sit on. Carefully setting out the picnic food, she looks up through her fringe to see Charity watching her, one eyebrow raised and a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. 

“I'm always impressed at how you can whip up a picnic so quickly babe. It's a real skill.”

“Play your cards right, Charity and maybe I will show you some of my other skills later,” she retorts, grinning at Charity's faux-shocked expression. 

“Why Dr. Woodfield, are you trying to seduce me?” giggles Charity. 

“Trying, yeah. We'll see how successful I am after lunch, eh?” Vanessa offers her a strawberry. 

Charity can't take her eyes off Vanessa, who is busying herself with a couple of plastic plates and a thermos of tea. She loves everything about this woman, from her kindness and grace, to her boundless enthusiasm for picnics, and sometimes she finds it so overwhelming she doesn't know how she can ever express this to her. 

Vanessa breaks her train of thought by offering her a small cup of tea. It's weak and too milky, but Charity loves that it is so unerringly Vanessa that she accepts it with a smile.

“You're quiet,” Vanessa observes. “Is everything OK?”

“Perfect, babe,” Charity replies, popping a grape in her mouth. “Thank you for all this. It's lovely.”

Vanessa raises an eyebrow suspiciously, as though she doesn't quite believe Charity, but says nothing, instead passing her some sandwiches. 

**

They eat the picnic, chatting about the kids, about the latest mischief the little ones are getting into, and how Noah's doing in school. Charity reads her Ryan's latest text, one that tells her about some band he'd been to see with friends. 

She can feel herself smiling as she puts her phone away. She'd never have thought that she'd be in this position where all her kids are in her life willingly, and are safe and happy. She knows that she has Vanessa to thank for that, really, from helping her be a better mum to Moses and Noah, and working on her relationship with Debbie. And of course, Vanessa was the reason she had Ryan back in her life. 

Her breath catches at this, at the sudden realisation that Vanessa would do anything for her. She'd known it before, at some level, but she suddenly feels it in the deepest parts of her being. And she does it not so Charity owes her anything, but because she loves her, and that's how it works when you love someone so deeply. She can feel tears sharp at her eyes, and so she lies back, head on the grass to listen to Vanessa telling her about what's going on at the vets and the latest hamster crisis. She's not really listening to the words, she's just letting Vanessa's voice wash over her like a soothing balm, reassuring her that everything that she loves is real, and right here. 

She watches a couple of wispy clouds scud past, and takes in the smell of fresh grass. She realises that this easy happiness at just being, and just being with the woman she loves is perfect. The dark thoughts that used to govern every action, and every decision she made, that made her hurt those she wanted to love and hurt herself are barely there now. Vanessa's calm unselfish love has been what has started to heal her after all those years of anguish. 

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she watches Vanessa for a minute. She has her eyes closed and her face turned to the sun. She looks content, with her arms wrapped round her knees. As if she feels Charity's gaze on her, she turns her head slowly and opens her eyes. 

“What is it? You're staring at me,” she blushes, even as she says the words. 

“You're beautiful, Ness. I don't tell you enough, but you are. And amazing. I probably don't tell you that enough, either do I?” Charity says softly. “You've given me so much- so much I never thought I would ever have in my life.”

“How d'you mean?” asks Vanessa, her brows furrowing in confusion. 

Charity rests her head back down on the grass and lets her eyes drift back up to the sky. 

“I just mean... you've made me a better person Ness. You've made me brave, you've made me strong, you've made me want to be a better mum. I don't tell you enough” Charity sighs and feels rather than sees Vanessa lying down by her, head to head. Charity reaches up and tangles her fingers in beautifully soft blonde hair. 

“You do know, don't you Ness?” Charity's voice is barely above a whisper now. 

“Know what?” Asks Vanessa, mirroring Charity and reaching up to run her fingers through hair, habit forcing her to tease out a curl and winding her fingers in it.

They lie like this for a minute until Charity final answers Vanessa. “That you've been like the sun coming out in my life Ness. That I love you and that you're everything to me.”

Vanessa turns her head to Charity. “I know. You do tell me, even if it's not always with words. And you're everything to me too, Charity. I love you more than you will ever know.”

Charity smiles at this and relaxes into the sensation of the grass beneath her, Vanessa's soft hair in her hand and the sun warming them. For the first time in as long as she can remember, everything feels right, feels simple and feels good. She leans over to place a quick kiss on Vanessa's forehead before lying back again to watch the clouds.


End file.
